Will this come back to bite the Red Queen on her extra large backside?

Hillary Aide Mocks McCain POW Past [Update: Hillary Apologizes]
Posted by Mark Finkelstein on October 14, 2006 - 09:02.
For Maureen Dowd, politics are primarily personal. This morning she managed to reduce the current Korean conflict to an image of two boys behaving badly. Meanwhile, is mocking John McCain's POW past a smart move for Hillary? Dowd offered a stunning insight into the Hillary campaign that suggests it might not be the ready-for-presidential-primetime operation some might imagine.

The topic of Maureen Dowd's subscription-required column of this morning, Is Chivalry Shivved?, is the war of words between Hillary and John McCain, as the two top presidential contenders recently fired some early shots over the other's bow on the topic of responsibility for the N. Korean nuclear mess.

Dowd managed to work in the DNC talking point of the week: the need for direct talks between the Bush administration and N. Korea. [Former Clinton UN Ambassador Bill Richardson was all over the morning shows today pushing the idea, by the way.] In any case, viewing the N. Korean nuke situation through her politics-of-the-personal lens, Dowd saw things thusly:

"Its clear, after all, that the North Koreans are acting immaturely in response to W. acting immaturely. They want attention because the Bush administration inexplicably refuses to talk to them. And they know, in the pre-emptive world ordained by nutty Dick Cheney, that the best way to protect themselves from the fate of Saddam Hussein is to actually go nuclear, rather than merely fantasizing and boasting about it."

Just a couple of wild 'n immature guys, that George and Jong. Nice moral equivalence, Maureen. As for the pro-pre-emption Dick Cheney ["nutty" - this is what passes for serious criticism at the Times nowadays?], wouldn't Dowd agree that the world would be a much better place if Bill Clinton had permanently pre-empted OBL when he was handed the chance?

I was fascinated by this nugget Dowd reports from inside Hillary Central:

"Privately, Hillarys camp was not overly upset by the McCain swipe because it suspected he was doing the bidding of the White House and that he ended up, as one adviser put it, 'looking similar to the way he did on those captive tapes from Hanoi, where he recited the names of his crew mates.'

Just how "privately" was it if Team Hillary was spilling it to a NY Times columnist?

In any case, if Hillary and her advisers think it's smart to attack McCain by making snide comments that invoke his five years as a POW, then she's not the smartest-woman-in-the-world political juggernaut some make her out to be.

UPDATE: Hillary has now personally apologized to Sen. McCain for her aide's POW comment, her spokesman Howard Wolfson said, "These comments are reprehensible and they in no way reflect Senator Clinton's feelings."

UPDATE: Hillary has now personally apologized to Sen. McCain for her aide's POW comment, her spokesman Howard Wolfson said, "These comments are reprehensible and they in no way reflect Senator Clinton's feelings."

immediate backpedaling, all the workings of a liberal who harbors contempt for the very people who defend her right to say what she does---i doubt that she didn't mean what she said. She is no different than her good-for-nothing husband (if you can call him that since they don't act like they're married).

immediate backpedaling, all the workings of a liberal who harbors contempt for the very people who defend her right to say what she does---i doubt that she didn't mean what she said. She is no different than her good-for-nothing husband (if you can call him that since they don't act like they're married).

Click to expand...

While the Red Queen herself did not bellow the remarks, I am sure that is how she feels about the US military

I do hope she is the Dems choice in 08. Her defeat will put an end to the Clinton myth once and for all

immediate backpedaling, all the workings of a liberal who harbors contempt for the very people who defend her right to say what she does---i doubt that she didn't mean what she said. She is no different than her good-for-nothing husband (if you can call him that since they don't act like they're married).

HILLARY'S APOLOGY [Byron York]
A note from top McCain adviser John Weaver concerning the Hillary Clinton adviser who told the New York Times's Maureen Dowd that, in criticizing the Clinton administration's record on North Korea, Sen. McCain was mouthing the White House line and "looking similar to the way he did on those captive tapes from Hanoi, where he recited the names of his crew mates":

Senator Clinton did call John while he was entering the Navy/Rutgers game today [Saturday] and apologized. He accepted her apology. We do as well, though like President Reagan, we will trust, but verify. She is correct in saying that the comment was reprehensible.

The dustup was first reported in the New York Daily News:

An anonymous attack by a Clinton advisor on John McCain in the New York Times today has triggered what may be the sharpest exchange so far between the 2008 frontrunners.

Privately, Hillarys camp was not overly upset by the McCain swipe because it suspected he was doing the bidding of the White House and that he ended up, as one adviser put it, looking similar to the way he did on those captive tapes from Hanoi, where he recited the names of his crew mates.

Either this is a slip, or it's a signal from Clinton-land that the "McCain is crazy" whisper campaign  which worked quite well for Bush in 2000  is being revived. Or both.

Asked about the line, McCain advisor John Weaver responded:

"I never expected the Clintons or their allies to know much about Vietnam. But [it] is disappointing to see one of her spokespeople purposefully lie about John's war record and time in a Hanoi prison camp. There was no such tape recording; though he did once give up the starting lineup of the Green Bay Packers while under extreme duress. Senator Clinton's spokesperson does a disservice to all who were there and served so bravely and honorably."

UPDATE: Clinton's (actual) spokesman Howard Wolfson says, "These comments are reprehensible and they in no way reflect Senator Clinton's feelings." Clinton called McCain this morning about the comment.

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